News

Metallic Power Highlights Fuel-Cell-Based Portable Power Source Demonstration

August 21, 2000 by Jeff Shepard

Metallic Power (Carlsbad, CA) announced that it has successfully demonstrated what it claims is the world's first fuel-cell-based portable power source powered by a solid, safe and completely recyclable fuel. The company's latest version of its zinc-air fuel cell provides more than 1kWh of energy using a single, sealed, quick-change fuel cartridge containing zinc and electrolytes. Users can refuel and recycle cartridges indefinitely while the system provides continuous power; implementation does not require high pressure, high temperature or reformers; and the zinc-air fuel cell generates electricity when it combines zinc and oxygen in the presence of an electrolyte. In the separate recycling unit, this zinc-oxide is turned back into fresh zinc fuel using electricity, and the oxygen is released into the air. It is an entirely closed-loop system with nothing to add, nothing to discard and nothing wasted. "We're extremely pleased and proud to have made fuel cell history today," said Jeff Colborn, CEO of Metallic Power. "Never before has anyone demonstrated a technology that comes close to our combination of energy density, robustness and ease of use, with a fuel that is safe, abundant and completely recyclable."